Having a heart attack leaves you at greater risk of developing cancer, a study has revealed.

Patients diagnosed with heart failure between 1979 and 1990 had a 48 per cent increased risk of cancer, while patients diagnosed between 1991 and 2002 had an 86 per cent increased risk.

However the researchers, from the Mayo Clinic Centre for the Science of Health Care Delivery in America, said that despite better heart survival rates, the rise in cancer detection might be down to increased surveillance or side effects.

Those who have suffered a heart attack are more likely to develop cancer, according to new research. File picture

Dr Veronique Roger, director of the centre and co-author of the study said: 'Heart failure patients are not only at an increased risk for developing cancer, but the occurrence of cancer increases mortality in these patients.

'These findings underscore the importance of cancer surveillance in the management of heart failure patients.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

'These findings also illustrate the importance of multi-morbidity among patients living with chronic diseases and support the concept of providing holistic rather than disease-based care.'

Increased detection of cancer thanks to greater medical scrutiny may have influenced the outcome of the study. Pictured, a cancer cell

Researchers conducted the study using medical records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, which links the inpatient and outpatient records from all providers used by the population of Olmsted County, Minnesota.

THE LINK BETWEEN CANCER AND HEART ATTACKS

596 patients with heart failure were paired with the same number of similar healthy subjects.

Patients between 1979 and 1990 had a 48 per cent
increased risk of cancer.

Meanwhile patients diagnosed between 1991 and 2002
had an 86 per cent increased risk.

The study included 596 patients with heart failure paired with the same number of similar healthy subjects.

The research, published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, looked at two 11-year time periods.

Dr Roger and colleagues suggest several possible causes for the increased risk of cancer in heart failure patients, including side effects of cardiovascular treatments, or stress from illness or other mechanisms associated with the physiology of heart failure such as inflammation.

Investigators stress the importance of the findings in the treatment and management of heart failure, concluding patients should be monitored closely for signs of cancer, the authors said.